My Billionaire Captor

by Shae Black

  Marcus hears them too though and holds my forehead still pushing my head into the cushions he smashes his mouth on mine banging our teeth together and biting at my lips. A muffled cry escapes me as Saint and Elijah enter the room. I hear them rushing toward us yelling at Marcus to stop! Before they reach us though Marcus's body tenses up from head to toe and all of his weight is suddenly crushing me into the couch, I can’t breathe!

  He’s not with me anymore, I can’t sense any mental connection between us…evil or otherwise but his body is convulsing over me, he’s seizing. Fuck he’s having a God damn seizure! I push as hard as my small body can and just then my former shadows and supposed bodyguards are there pulling him off of me onto the floor. I gasp for breath and when I find it I instruct them on what to do because they are both standing there dumbfound and frozen. “Roll him onto his side. Elijah grab a pillow and put it under his head. Mr. Black, call his doctor and run get that huge fucking medical first aid thing he has.” I speak calmly and with authority as my nursing skills take over.

  I’m glad they take instruction well, quickly they burst into action. Elijah helps me move him to his side and Saint takes off running out of the room. All we can do is wait now. Elijah and I look up at each other and our eyes lock. Marcus continues to spasm between us and I see regret, horror and concern playing across his face. “We just have to wait for him to stop, keep him from hurting himself.” “That’s always been my job, Imani. I’ve been trying to keep him from hurting himself for years.” “I know Elijah , I know.”

  Chapter 20

  Saint returns with the enormous medical kit and unbelievably, a gurney and an oxygen tank! What the hell have they been expecting? Do they have an entire hospital here somewhere that I don’t know about? No time to ask questions right now. Marcus continues to seize, it’s been at least 5 minutes. Something needs to be done or he could develop further brain damage. I throw open the kit and grab a mask for the oxygen and tubing, hook it up and carefully apply the mask. “Crank it up all the way.” I tell Elijah and he quickly figures out the gauge and oxygen begins to flow. “Watch him, keep his airway clear.” I instruct and turn my attention to digging through the unfamiliar box of supplies.

  God, I hope there’s something here to stop a seizure. “When’s the doctor coming?” I ask while rummaging, a little frantic now. “He’s on his way. How long can he do this?” Saint asks. “Not much longer, fuck isn’t there something in here for seizures, damn it!” Then I see what I’m looking for, it’s the right medication just not in the form I expected it to be.

  We usually use IV meds on our patients but this is the same thing in an injection. I snatch it out, great it’s in a pen, even easier I throw the cap aside and jab the damn thing into his thigh, through his jeans and Elijah almost grabs my hand to stop me, instinct I guess. But he pulls back his hand while I push the medication into the muscle. I hear the door open and close, voices working their way toward us. Marcus begins to relax and I slump and blow out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Enrique, Elena and doctor what’s his name from the E.R. rush into the room and I’ve never been more relieved.

  I drop back away from Marcus’s body and lean against a chair behind me watching as things seem to unfold in slow motion. Elena is kneeling beside me in seconds with her arms around my shoulders in an embrace that I don’t return. I feel hollow, disconnected somehow but grateful the seizure has stopped. Enrique and doctor, damn I can’t remember his name, surround Marcus and roll him to his back, checking his pulse, listening to his heart, looking into his pupils.

  It’s an assessment I’ve seen a million times but this time is different, this time I’m emotionally invested, hell I’m not simply emotionally invested, I’m all in. Where he goes I go, nothing can separate us, not even death. I’m snapped back to reality when Elena shakes me and gently takes ahold of my chin to look me in the eyes. Things shift back to real time and the men lift Marcus to the gurney that Mr. Black bought from, well I don’t know where. “Imani, Imani, honey are you ok?” “Huh?” “Let’s get you up so we can go with them, come on.”

  Elena pulls me to my feet but my legs feel like jello and I stagger. She supports me and we begin to follow the group. “Wait, I need my shoes.” I stop to go back but Elena continues to pull me along. “You won’t need shoes just come on.”

  It’s cold out, what’s wrong with her? I do need my damn shoes but I’m not getting them I guess. I’m expecting them to take a right toward the front door where I assume they have an ambulance waiting in the driveway. I stop and watch as they continue down the hall. “This way Imani, just come with us. We have everything we need here in the house. Marcus’s never been in a hospital before his car accident, and he wouldn’t have taken you to one either but for the fact that it was closer to Aunt Angelica’s house. You have no idea what it took for him to go into that hospital, he wouldn’t do it for anybody but you, believe me.” “Oh…” I’m confused now.

  “So where are we going?” “The west wing has accommodations, you’ll see, let’s just go.” Accommodations? What? Walking briskly now Elena asks “What happened back there? Mr. Black said you were signaling to them and then he went down.” “Well, sort of.” “Sort of? What do you mean?” “He was having an, a…episode of sorts.” “An episode? He didn’t hurt you again did he?”

  She stops to spin me to face her checking me up and down while Marcus is rolled to the end of the hall where an elevator opens. I don’t remember that, I don’t remember this part of the house at all actually. Fucking mansions. “I’m ok, come on I don’t want to get separated.” Satisfied with no visual injuries she releases me and we hustle to close the gap, sliding into the very crowded elevator. I don’t think this thing is meant for seven people and a gurney but we squeeze.

  I glance down out of the corner of my eye at Marcus’s pale face next to me. I can’t be separated from him but I also don’t want to see him this way. It was different when he was my patient in the hospital. I didn’t know him then. I felt the invisible thread that holds us together but no memories were attached to him, no love, no adoration or desperate need to have him beside me forever. No, those came along quickly like a tsunami when he woke from a coma and pierced me with his fierce commanding psyche.

  Now the panic really takes over and my body starts to shake from the shock. That was a hell of a seizure and what lead up to it…well, I don’t know what the fuck that was. “Imani!” Elijah says sternly and I turn wild eyes in his direction. “He’s going to be ok, you hear me? I see it on your face and you have to stop. I mean it. Get a grip…for him. I know you can do it, shake it off.”

  Deep breaths in and out in and out. I shake my arms at my sides like a boxer before a fight. I can, I will…for him. Get your shit together Imani, breathe, go to a calm place, warm beach, no, no this isn’t working. Fuck it, I can’t be here for him and be in shock too, I’m only human after all! The doors slide open and Enrique pushes Marcus into…well, what the hell?

  Pretty much a hospital room, not any ordinary hospital room though. I look around, you could do surgery in here if you needed to. “What the hell is this?” I whisper mostly to myself but Elena is next to me. “Marcus…well, he has a…colorful past. He had this put in years ago just in case.” “Just in case what?” “Um, I’ll talk to you later about it.”

  Enrique is taking his blazer off and he looks to me. “Do you think you can get an IV in him?” Uhh, well, of course I have the skills to do it, but I’m kind of a mess right now. “Might give you something to focus on.” he says when I hesitate and I agree. “Ok yea, I can. Where’s everything at?” Elijah begins opening cupboards to show me what I need. How does he know what I need anyway? And why does he seem so familiar with this set up? I grab a pair of gloves and start looking for a vein.

  Marcus’s in pristine physical shape despite his brain condition and usually has awesome bulging nurse porn veins but not postictal. All his blood has been shunted
to his vital organs during the seizure so starting an IV is going to suck. We all worked as a team however and Marcus is starting to look better, still not awake, but better. He has some color to his skin now, his lips aren't ashen and blue but I won’t be satisfied until he opens those green scolding eyes of his. “Ok, his vitals are stable, he’s just got to wake up now, nothing else to do for a while.” Doctor what’s his name says and Enrique agrees. “You can all go, I got this. I’m not leaving him.” “Imani…we aren’t leaving you, either of you.” Elena says “And hey, let me see your lip, what happened here? It’s swelling and it’s been bleeding.”

  I raise my hand and touch my sore lip, will this shit ever end? What the hell am I going to say? Well Elena, your brother freaked the fuck out called me names, threatened to rape me and bit my lip, uh nope. “I must have bitten it when Marcus fell.” She wasn’t there, she doesn’t know he didn’t fall but she’s suspicious narrowing her eyes she leans forward to look closer. I cover it nervously. “Is there any ice in this place?” I ask and Elijah moves to a fridge I hadn’t noticed to retrieve some ice, which reminds me to ask about this mini hospital again.

  “What’s the deal with this hospital slash O.R. in the house? You told me you would explain later, and it’s later.” I stand with one arm around my own waist and the other still over my mouth. Elena is sitting across the room nervously fiddling with a ring on her finger, twirling it around and around. Enrique is sitting with her and turns a surprised face to his girlfriend. Doctor what’s his name is packing up to leave. Good, he kind of creeps me out, I don’t know why just something about him. I turn when Elijah hands me an ice pack and then return my focus to Elena.

  Now she’s biting her lip and I know they are keeping something from me, something big. “What? Why isn’t anybody talking?” Elijah sighs, taking my hand, leading me to another chair, we sit and he keeps my hand in his. “Ok, Imani we’ve all wanted to tell you the truth but Marcus has been so different since the accident, he’s changed, you’ve changed him.” He looks over at Elena and Enrique as if for confirmation to continue and she looks, well, she looks horrified.

  “And we thought if it were a permanent change, for the better, then no need to talk about it. But this personality change leads me to believe you need to know at least the basics of who he used to be.” “Ok. So, you’re kinda scaring me with all this hand holding and cryptic talk. Let’s have it.” Being sassy is a cover up for what I’m really feeling and that’s petrified.

  Chapter 21

  I’m waiting as Elijah searches for the words I’m not sure I really want to hear but he doesn’t get the chance to say them. “Imani…” Marcuss soft gravelly voice halts the conversation. He’s finally coming around and as he’s done before, the first thing from his lips is my name. I drop Elijah s hand and step across the chilly sterile floor in my bare feet to his side. “You’re here” he says with a tone of disbelief. I wonder if he remembers anything about this afternoon. “Yes of course I’m here, how do you feel?” I ask while Enrique is busy assessing and taking vitals.

  “Tired, really tired.” “Are you in any pain?” Marcus turns his face to me and reaches up to touch my arm. I think he’s reaching for my face but isn’t able to reach from his prone position on the gurney. “You’re so beautiful my Imani, so, so beautiful.” he whispers. “You can see me?” “Yes, I thought I’d seen you for the last time, but here you are…”

  Now this I didn’t expect, why do I expect anything anymore? I’m overjoyed his sight has returned and that he is awake but what does this mean? Could this be that span of time when a terminally ill person becomes well before death? God please don’t let it be that. “Come closer.” Now there is my bossy man, I lean over him and he raises both hands to cradle my face. “What’s this?” he asks when he sees the IV in his hand.

  “You had a seizure, we’ve been crazy waiting for you to come around.” “You’re just crazy baby.” My lips are covered with his when he pulls me down to his face and sparks shoot through my body with the life he always brings, his half of the magnet is awake again and it snaps together with mine. The string that attaches our souls pulls taught, everything feels right now but that little niggle in my head says be cautious, it’s a trap. Softly he caresses my lips with his, sliding his tongue around mine, backing off slowly to examine my face, looking into my eyes I feel he can see me, really see me, not just visually but entirely.

  “What happened here?” he says quietly brushing over my bruised lip with his thumb. It’s amazing how no one exists when we are together this way, neither of us even notice when the room clears. His family left us alone not knowing we actually already were. “I…we…bumped when we were kissing.” I stammer. “We did? I don’t remember.” he scrunches up his brows contemplating. “I don’t remember…how we got here, what happened?” I lay my head on his chest and his arms circle me.

  “You weren't you.” “What do you mean I wasn’t me?” “What all do you remember about the last couple weeks?” “Well everything, I think, the last thing is us laying down for a nap today.” Relief washes over me and I’m very glad he has no memory of the events right before his seizure. I’ll have to make sure Mr. Black or Elijah erases that part of the surveillance. Last time he realized he had hurt me it nearly destroyed him, he doesn’t need to know he gave me a fat lip. “Well, you napped but I couldn’t sleep so I went to sit in the living room, in the sun. You woke up and found me, that’s when you had the seizure. Why didn’t you tell me about this mini hospital? And why on earth is it necessary?

  I raise up and prop my hip on the narrow gurney that is filled completely by Marcus’s solid body and wait for an answer. “It never crossed my mind to tell you. I don’t like to go to hospitals, so I have my own.” he answers nonchalantly, as if everybody just built a tiny hospital in their basement when they didn’t like to visit their local germ hole. “Well it’s just…extreme.” “And? You should know by now Imani, everything I do is extreme, the biggest, the best, and the most beautiful. That’s why I have you. And really if your lip was bruised from us bumping we need to be more careful. I don’t want to be responsible for any imperfections on this perfect face.”

  I sigh and feel guilty for lying to him but I firmly believe it’s for his own good. “Do we need to be here?” he asks. “I’d like you to, for a little while anyway to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” More concern darkens his face. “You think it might?” “Marcus, it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen. I mean you’ve lost and regained your sight, had personality changes, headaches and now a seizure. We need to find someone to operate and remove that damn tumor!”

  Rolling his eyes he doesn’t answer me, just stares. “What?” “I just want to look at you, for as long as I can baby.” “Don’t say things like that, you’re going to be fine. Dr. Carlson will remove the tumor and we can go home, live a long life giving each other goofy love looks all day long if you want.” Defeat and doubt hang in the air between us, he’s all but given up on a future together and it pisses me off.

  “Ok Imani, whatever you want, I’ll do it, as long as it makes you happy. I know the possibility of a full recovery, hell any recovery but you’re not there yet and I respect that.” Respect that?! What the hell? This is no time to give up the fight and I don’t intend on letting him. “You, Mr. Castillo, are not a quitter. I’ve not known anything to defeat you. You love to win, conquer, squash and rule! I will not accept anything less than the full power of your determination when it comes to saving your own life, and mine. You do realize I can’t live without you right? You go I go, so get your ass out of the pity pot and join the battle damn it!”

  My heart is pounding and I’ve broken out it a sweat from the anger that fills me, how dare he give up! His eyes narrow and after a few moments the smirk that destroys the walls I try to keep building up for protection spreads across his face and he winks, winks! Gah! “I love nothing in the world more than to hear your smart mouth Imani Jefferson, well except for k
issing it, and since you put it that way yes I’ll join you in the fight. I’m not going to be responsible for your demise. I’ve seen how close you’ve come and I realize how serious you are.

  I’ll fight for you and you fight for me, how is that?” he gathers my small trembling hands in his and squeezes them between his. “Thank you.” I reply in a tiny voice. It’s a start, he’s still on team defeat but I won’t rest until he’s on my team, team triumph. I’m counting on him fighting for me, he may have given up on himself but I doubt he could ever give up on me.

  Dr. Carlson will be here soon. I’ve pinned a lot of hopes on him and I hope he can deliver. If we can just give Marcus some optimism, some hope and get him headed in the right direction I’m sure he can survive…he has to. “I’m not staying down here. Get Elijah to take me to my room.” “But…” “No, no, you…my little queen have said enough, get your ass up and get him, or I swear I’ll yank this IV out and walk out of here myself.”

  His eyebrows are raised, head cocked to the side with an I dare ya expression. “Ok fine.” I pout. “Poke that lip out any further and a bird is going to land there and poop on it.” he teases, running his finger across my protruding bottom lip. I roll my eyes and stand to go get help. Grabbing my arm suddenly he sends me into complete muscle lock down defense mode. “Don’t ever leave me baby.” The desperation conveyed is in complete opposition to his normal stern commanding presence. “I’m just going to get…” I motion to the elevator door but he shakes his head back and forth.

  “No I don’t mean like that. You are all I’m fighting for now, nothing else, without you I won’t make it. I’ve only survived since the car accident because you have been my savior, my angel. My heart beats only because yours does Imani. You need to know your importance to my survival, I will simply cease without you.”